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Children and teens, particularly boys, who ate more than three times a day weighed less than those who had three or fewer meals, according to a Greek study in the journal Pediatrics. Higher frequency eating was also tied to a 22% decline in the odds of being overweight or obese, researchers said.

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Getting more sleep was linked to reduced risk of getting sick among teens, particularly boys, according to a study in the Journal of Sleep Research. Illnesses were more frequent in teens after a period of less sleeping time compared with a period when they got more sleep, researchers said.

A study in the journal Depression and Anxiety showed 57% of older adults with atypical depression were obese, compared with 24% of those with classic depression, 27% of patients with undifferentiated depression and 21% of adults without depression. Researchers said emotional eating and excessive sleeping may be behind the link between obesity and atypical depression.

Participation in electronic-media-based intervention programs led to improved health behaviors among children and teens, such as increased physical activity and more fruit and vegetable intake, according to a study in JAMA Pediatrics. One of the 19 studies showed that a computer-based intervention on safe sex was linked to higher rates of sexual abstinence for up to three months among teens.

A study in the journal Pediatrics showed that teens who slept less were more likely to have a higher body mass index than those who got enough sleep. The link between shorter sleep duration and weight issues was more pronounced among teens who were already overweight or obese, researchers said.

A study of 5,800 U.S. teens found that among those who did not snack, 39% were overweight or obese, compared with 30% of those who had two snacks, 28% of those who had three and 22% of those who ate four or more snacks daily. Researchers also found that the rate of abdominal obesity was 24% among nonsnacking teens, compared with 11% in the four-snacks-a-day group.